Yet hope springs eternal when any potential development arises, and the Tampa Bay Times editorial board applauds the efforts {link to Times' site}. But it also warns about the enormous financing issue nobody has any suggested fixes for yet:

(The Tampa Sports Authority negotiating committee) will be more of a front; any baseball stadium deal in Tampa will almost certainly involve public money, regulatory and planning considerations and any number of other concessions by city and county governments in Hillsborough. The principal players won't be the sports authority members but Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn and Hillsborough Commissioner Ken Hagan, who conceived the idea for a working group.

The Times also warns about Hagan's desire to keep the group from having to work under Florida's Sunshine Laws.

Transparency isn't Hagan's strong suit, and he will need to work openly throughout this process. Hillsborough's move at this early stage, though, is more about positioning as St. Petersburg and the Rays look to open up the search, and about reclaiming some leverage from Buckhorn, who has cultivated the notion of a baseball stadium in downtown Tampa.